Carton carrier



" Il .lll

Hfz. GRAY 2,514,858

CARTON CARRIER Fil March a, 1948.

Mill MM.; f

:mil j l v N l I LNTJ J l nventor HAQQY Z. GRAY f@ ff Patented July 11, 1975.0

mit@

y UNITED" STATES PATENT' OFFICE.,

i l' 2,514,858 n @A RTQN CARI??? Harry Z- Gray, Lebanon, ohio Application March ,3, 194.8! Ssieil N@ 1?179- 1 ijnis Vinvention relates to iinprovements infcarriers for use more particularly in transporting a plurality of cartons Yof the type knowndas single service containers.

,in recent years, mill; bottles andother bottles have yloeen .replacedto a large extent by single service containers .for edof-foldable sheetn'iaf rying the containers.

AWhencarrying oneor two of these containers,"

`no great diflicultyis encounteredrby the usersifnce one may be carried in each hand. "But y.when three o r more containers are involved, difficulties wenn@ (c1. zelda-7.2)

` ignates Vthe carrier as .2 a whole, forrned from a single blanlor `sheet of ioldable material such as cardboard; or the like vI l (Fig. 2). This blank is substantially rectangular `in plan' and is creased, scored or vfurrowed' centrally as indicated at l 2, and intermediate'itscenter and ends", asinare .presented which it is an object cviftl'iisfin?v vention to overcome.

Another object is to provide a carrier formed y with spaced, `cnt-out portions and ,adjacent tongues, which tongues nt within the lateral openingsat the tops of the containers and which cut-outportions receive the projecting ends of the container tops tothereby permita plurality of suchcontainersto bettransported by .a single carrier. I

Furtherobjects are `to :providea carrier that dicated at I3, YWhile tljle longitudinal margins are arcuately' indented, as at' 14- Thisarrcreenient provides identical fp'anels ono'pposite sides o'f they centerline l2, leach panel consisting of ilner sections l5 rldiltr sections I E.

Each section l5 islitjut .t0 provide 2m elongated hand for finger opening H, While each section i6 is pfovide'd'with 'a pluralitypf spaced, cutout portionsoroplingaindicated as a whole by the numeral 1l. The' letter @meines lere f substantiallyfvvishfboneshape, having a longitudihal branch 19.y :preferably slightly tapered, and having 4 arcuate branches 2o leading from branch I9 in aniannerto provide a'plurality or spaced, arcuate-.shared toriees `2l extending generally towardfthe c :f`en1-iejrline 4l 2; on each side thereof.'

In the present embodiment o f the carrier, threef thp'ennes I and tongues# 2| are a1'- raneedgin Qppositeiy eisp'sedrnanqn in each Section 1 6, and aswillbleter explained Opposite Apairs of these'onen'ingfs r andtongri'es coopis simpleand easy toconstruct; that uses a minimum of material; thatmaybequickly and easily attached to the containers; vthat cannotreadily become accidentally disengaged fromvthe com ytainers; that is inexpensive and efiicient; that occupiesonlya small space when not inusej andthat may bere-used a relatively largeniimber of times.

Other objects and advantages will become ap# parent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.`

In the drawing:

Eig. 1 visaperspective View of vvmy carrier with y three containers carried thereby shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2,15 a, plan View of a single piece of material from which the carrier is formed;

`j 1 i g. 3 is a side elevation of the Ycarrier properly assembled; and

Fig. 4 is @section taken substantially on line L-A 0f Fig. 3 Wth a container shown lin broken linesy in position, to be engaged by the tongues 4of thecarrier.

inefrrlnatcthe drawing. .thelnumerel ladescrate in llldirie a '.'Qiiellei 'lfhis 'IL10 more than three containers are adapted to be carried at one time by the carrierillustrated, but it Will be apparent that the plank AH may loe made langer, if desired, and that additional openings and tongues may Jee'providedliorcarrying additional containes.

After the Plank U haslbeen scored and cui ontias previously desc i`lo`e d, it is'iolded on the centerline l 2,'t he two sectionsltbeing brought Obi/ i@iisly'thr fastening means finer be pro- Vided. When sections l5 ra e' prone rly seemed;

the hand openings l1 are in l i g'r 11;n` ejnt and these carrier.

sections then become the ha1` le 'portion or" the At this time, the sections 41.6 .Will also be Substantially in `face -to-iae' lconta`c`t and theV carriermay bekeptin Vthis flattened condition or transportation or otherpurposes or untilit is desiredfto use saine. vTifo llo'eniade ready foru'se,V is it only Aneces ry to hendvfthemsections' Ill out- 'rarely in erregte'fidifeefris alone the Segre The style of container with which this carrier n is more particularly adapted for use is shown in broken lines at 25 in Figs. 1 and 4. This style of container is usually formed of foldable sheet' material, such as cardboard or the like, madeVv liquid tight, and comes in different sizes, such as quarts, pints, etc. The body of the container is usually square or rectangular in cross-sectionv and the top thereof is substantially uniform in size and shape Whether the container is of lquart or pint size, the size being controlled by shortening or lengthening the body, as the case may be, Without changing the arrangement of the top.

For a more complete understanding of the top construction in this type of container, reference may be had to the United States Patents Nos. 2,329,797, 2,270,617, 2,263,957, and 2,218,670. In general, the top 'comprises four slanting, folded portions which are continuations oi the four Walls of the container. Two oppositely disposedv portions 26 of the top are slanted inwardly toward each other and folded so as to provide a substantially triangular-shaped opening 2I at each side of the top. The other two oppositely'disposed portions 28 are also slanted inwardly toward each other, overlapping the first tvv'o portions, and being joined together at their upper ends so as to provide an upstanding horizontal ridge 29, slightly tapered, at the top of the structure. An opening (not shown) may be formed in one of the portions 28 to allow for passage ,of liquid into and out of the container;

When it is desired to utilize my carrier with a plurality of the containers 25, the latter are arranged side'by side as indicated in Fig. 1,`prefer ably but not necessarily, with as many' containers 25 being provided as there are pairs of openings I8 in the carrier. The sections I6 of the carrier are then bent outwardly along lthe score lines I311`ntil the desired angular positions of the sections are obtained. Next the carrier is placed inv position WithV sections I6 straddling the tops of .the containers as indicated in Fig. 1. When in proper position, each pair of oppositely disposedopenings I8 and their associated tongues 2l will cooperate With one of the containers 25 to engage the latter for carrying purposes. This engagement is brought about by having the end portions of each ridge 29 project through oppositeopenings I8 so that each tongue 2I may extendinto the adjacent opening 2l and engage the folded top under` the ridge 29, as shown in Fig. 4. If necessary, to insure proper engagement of each tongue 29, the latter may be bent or folded slightly inwardly, as indicated in Fig. 4. When all of the opposite pairs of tongues :ZI have been properly positioned, the carrier Will simultaneously lift all of the containers. Y

It Will be observed that the angular'arrangement of the sections I6 readily permit the ends of each container top to extend through opposite openings I8, With each branch. I9 of the latter receiving the slightly tapered ridge 29, and With the-branches 241l receiving the adjacent folded edge portions of the respective tops. When .-the

However, these containers may readily be removed from the carrier when it is desired to use them, by merely spreading the sections I6 farther apart until the tongues 2| pull out of the openings 21.

` Generally the containers 25 are only used once for holding a liquid and are then disposed of by the user. For this reason they are known as single service containers. But the carrier may be used over and over for many times.

It is believed to be apparent that I have provided a carrier which is Well calculated to achieve the objects and advantages of the invention. While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the invention is not so limited, and modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is: y

1. In a container carrier of the character described, a hand grip portion, and a pair of flaps hinged to said hand grip portion independently of each other along the same margin thereof, each of said aps being formed with a plurality of spaced apertures of substantially Wishbone shape, each of said flaps having a tongue adjacent each aperture that extends generally in the direction of said hand grip portion.

2. In a container carrier of the character described, the combination of a hand grip portion, and a pair of aps hinged to said hand grip portion independently of each other along the same margin thereof, each of said flaps being formed With an aperture of substantially Wishbone shape, said apertures being oppositely disposed in their respective flaps and each flap having a tongue adjacent its aperture that extends generally in p the direction of said hand grip portion.

3. In a container carrier of the character described, the combination of a hand grip portion, and a pair of flaps hinged to said hand grip portion independently of eachother along the same margin thereof, each of said ilaps being formed with a plurality of spaced apertures of substantially Wishbone shape, each aperture in one flap being oppositely disposed from an aperture in the other flap, and `each -ap having a tongue adjacent eachaperture that extends generally in the direction of said hand grip portion, ach tongue being bendable with respect to its ap. Y

4. In a container carrier for containers having slanting tops comprising portions folded upon each other to dene finger receiving openings on opposite sides of each container, the combination of a hand grip iportion, and a pair of iiapshinged to said hand grip portion independentlyof each other along the same margin thereof, Aeach of Said flaps being formed with a plurality of spaced apertures and each of said flaps havinga tongue adjacent each aperture that extends generally inthe direction of said handA grip portion, each i aperture in one flap being oppositely disposed from an aperture in the other flap and each tongue being bendable with respect to its flap so that the respective tongues associated with each oppositely vdisposedpair of apertures may be extended into said openings in one ofvsaid concontainers are lifted by the carrier,they are'rlni ly held and Will not be accidentally displaced.

tainers. l l

5. A container carrier of the character described in` claim 4 wherein said apertures are of substantially Wishbone shape, and the respective branches of eachoppositely,disposed pairA of apertures are adapted to receive opposite ends of r0n opposite sides of the top, the combination of a hand `'grip portion, and a pair of flaps hinged to said hand grip portion independently of each other along the same margin thereof, each of said flaps being formed with an aperture and a tongue adjacent each aperture which extends generally in the direction of. said hand grip portion, said apertures being oppositely disposed in their respective flaps so that their associated tongues may be extended into said openings in said top.

7. A container carrier of the character de- 6 scribed in claim 6 wherein said apertures are of substantially Wishbone shape, and the respective branches of each aperture are adapted to receive opposite ends of the folded portions of said container top.

- HARRY Z. GRAY.

`REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in t'he file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,299,625 Holmes Oct. 20, 1942 2,330,699 F'lamml Sept. 28, 1943 2,427,838 Cox Sept. 23, 1947 

